EVA
His warm, brown eyes darted between mine in surprise, roving over my body and then climbing back up to ogle my face. "It's really you? "
He couldn't believe I was here. The feeling was mutual.
I nodded, my throat clogged with emotions. The need to blink was strong, but I fought it because I feared that if I did, he would disappear.
His brows dove down. "You look different. "
His words seemed to slur slightly. And now that I took note of it, my surprise on seeing him was quickly replaced by worry.
I ignored his comment, wanting to ask him if he was okay instead, but before I could get the words out, he lunged at me and engulfed me in a tight hug. Almost immediately, my hands came up to wrap around him. I'd missed him. I closed my eyes, inhaling his familiar scent......... but it was all wrong. He smelled of beer and a cologne too strong to be associated with him.
A minute went by, then two, three, four and just when I started to think he had fallen asleep on me, he pulled away abruptly, staring at me with an odd look.
I frowned. "What—"
Omar threw up directly in front of me, missing my heels by mere centimeters.
I gaped.
People standing near us shifted, yelling at us to take our 'drunkenness' outside. How rich that was, coming from equally drunk people. I think some of the vomit must have splashed on a girl who had been dancing beside him because she glared at us for a long minute before storming off. Thankfully, she wasn't an Ivacy High student.
"Omar! " I whisper yelled.
He lifted his index finger in a 'one-moment' gesture, then braced his hands on his knees, and proceeded to empty the remaining contents of his stomach on the floor, earning more glares from people.
What was the possibility of the ground opening up and swallowing me right now?
I wanted to walk away, but at the same time, I couldn't leave him. I couldn't even if I wanted to and definitely not like this.
I took a step back —because the vomit was starting to spread, and glanced around warily.
"Uh.... What happened between now and five minutes ago? "
Axel!
I spun around sharply at the sound of his voice, my shoulders sagging with relief. I couldn't deal with the mess that was Omar alone right now.
"Thank God you're here. " I placed my hand on his chest without giving much thought to what I was doing. "I need your help. "
His eyes flared as he gazed from me to Omar. Back, forth, back, forth, as if he couldn't decide on who he wanted to look at. Eventually, when his eyes must have started to cross, he gave up and fixed me with a questioning glance, his left brow cocked.
Holding two bottles of drinks in his hands, standing a head taller than a considerable number of people in the crowd, with a sexy scowl etched on his face, I believed that it was understandable —and yes, quite shameful— why I felt moderately flattered that I was the one he was standing with, even with prettier girls that were more his style here, tonight.
"Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on? " he snapped.
"He threw up. I think he's had too much to drink. "
"Correction, " Omar forced out brokenly, his breath coming in short gasps. "I didn't. I know my limit just fine. "
"Shut up, Omar. "
"Who is he? " Axel asked.
"That's not important at the moment. What I—"
"I saw him hug you. " he bit out.
I tried not to take offense at his tone. His anger was completely unwarranted and unsolicited and a huge part of me wanted to snap right back at him, but I bit my tongue. What were a few words compared to the trouble he was about to go through?
The song ended and a slow one came up. People paired on the dance floor, grinding against each other sultrily with their eyes closed, absorbed in their own little world, losing themselves completely in the moment. That was when I realized I still had my hands on Axel's chest and I was horrified to find that they were clutching his shirt. I dropped them quickly like his skin burned. And somehow, they did.
I glanced up at him; he hadn't even seemed to notice.
"He's my best friend. " I answered his previous question. Glancing back at an obviously flushed Omar, he didn't look a lot like my best friend in that moment. My chest tightened. What could he possibly be going through that had made him drink to this extent?
"How? " his brows seemed to climb even more. "He doesn't school with us. I would recognize him. "
I shook my head. "I met him a long time ago. "
"You're going to have to do a lot more explaining than that. " he seemed to take in the state of the floor and the looks we were garnering just then. "But not here. Come. "
He shoved both drinks in his hands into a passing guy's chest and I watched as the guy desperately tried to catch them before they hit the ground. With his hand now free, he snagged mine, attempting to pull me with him, but I dug my heels into the ground rather futilely. I wasn't leaving. Not without Omar.
"What? " he frowned down at me, yes, even in my heels I was still inches shorter than him.
"I can't leave him. "
"I wasn't saying you should. "
"You just tried to drag me away. "
"And he should know to follow. " his eyes blazed. "The fuck do you want me to do? Write it out in the sky that he should come with us? He's not a baby. "
"Right now, he might as well be. " my anger started to surface.
"Not my fault he can't drink responsibly. "
"What do you know about responsibility? " I snapped. It was a cheap shot, but I threw it at him regardless. He just did not have the right to talk about Omar like that. He didn't even know him.
"Enough to be able to take care of myself even when I get drunk. " he shot back.
"Jesus. You're so annoying. "
"You're no fucking picnic either. " he stormed off, shouldering past the throng of people, pushing the front door open and slamming it shut as he passed.
I stared after him. I'd never seen him angry before and now that I had, well, I was shocked. He'd only ever been playful with me.
Putting one hand around Omar, we walked slowly out of the pool house. He threw his right hand around my shoulder and a feeling of nostalgia gripped me as I remembered all the times we'd walk just like this. Down in the streets, in school, and on church grounds whenever we got tired of the preacher's long sermons. Granted, he was seriously drunk, I didn't know how he had come to attend this party and I had no idea what I was going to do with him now, but I was grateful I'd found him —or the other way round— amidst all the hundreds of people in there.
I saw Axel standing outside when we finally got out. What was he still doing here? He was resting on a black car with his head down and he had his hands shoved into his pockets. His head came up when he heard our foot steps. He rushed towards me as soon as he saw that I was struggling with Omar, who had dumped his entire weight on me. I was practically carrying him.
Omar's weight was finally taken off my shoulders and I sighed as I massaged the aching muscles in my neck.
We didn't say a single word as Axel helped Omar across and into the car he'd been leaning on. It was obviously his. I didn't object because I knew there was nowhere else for him to sit and standing when he was almost passed out wasn't a good idea.
"Come into the car with me? " he asked when he stood beside me.
"Why? " I had my eyes on the door to the house, wondering what Laura was up to. Speaking of, I needed to call her. Looking for her wasn't an option.
"It's cold out here. "
His voice was softer now. Even softer than usual. He wanted to apologize, I knew it. My stare shifted to the car. I had to go in anyway, Omar was in there.
I could tell myself that Omar was the only reason I was settling back in the plush leather seat of Axel's car, but I would be lying. I turned in my seat to check on Omar and saw him sprawled on the back seat, his eyes closed in sleep. He looked so innocent and peaceful that my heart ached.
I miss you.
As I righted myself, facing forward, I caught Axel's eyes on me and I looked away. I thought I heard him sigh.
"I'm sorry I went off like that in there. "
I ignored him.
"Eva? "
Silence.
"I said I'm sorry for speaking to you the way I did. "
"Why did you? " I frowned, remembering I had been willing to put up with his anger because I had wanted something from him as well. To help me with Omar.
His head fell back on the headrest. "I..... " he trailed off, sighing. "I don't know. I just kind of lost it when I saw you hug him. "
He hugged me, I wanted to say but I stopped myself. It was Omar. I didn't have to justify anything.
"Why? " I asked instead. "You shouldn't care. "
"I know. " he said, his eyes still on the roof of his car.
"So why did you? " I should let this go. I knew I should, but I couldn't help myself.
He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I just wasn't expecting anyone else to be there. "
"Or, " Omar piped in from the backseat. "Because you like her. "
"I thought you were asleep? " I turned to him. His eyes were still closed and I briefly wondered whether he was talking in his sleep. But he couldn't be; he'd been listening to the conversation.
"I was. " he smiled a small smile, not opening his eyes, "Your not-so-quiet conversation woke me up. And he's silent 'cause he knows I'm right. "
"Wrong. I'm choosing to ignore your ass." Axel's eyes briefly lifted to the rear view mirror to glance at Omar. "You're practically wasted so your opinion isn't cogent. "
Omar scoffed, but didn't say anything further. Thanks to him, the atmosphere in the car was now ten times more awkward than it had been before.
Discretely sneaking a glance at Axel, taking note of how he kept his gaze straight forward and how awfully quiet he had fallen, I wondered if Omar was right. I mean, he didn't have to have huge feelings or anything, but what if he had a tiny crush on me? Could he possibly?
And why was I so desperate to know if he did? Because I had a tiny one on him too?
"Do you have any suggestions as to what we're going to do with him? " I asked, changing the topic —both between us and in my head. Anything to take my mind off the destructive path it was headed.
Axel seemed to think this over, munching on his lower lip as his eyes narrowed in concentration. "We could take him to a hotel where he can spend the night. And then tomorrow, figure out what to do with him. " he cut a glance at Omar. "Although I assume that wouldn't be necessary. Someone had to have invited him to the party. "
I nodded even though he couldn't see me. He was right. I hadn't thought all this over. We could drop him off at a hotel, go back to him tomorrow, and hopefully, catch up on everything that had been happening with him. It sounded easy enough. I'd been beating myself up over nothing.
He started the car, about to pull out from his parking space when a knock came at his window. He rolled it down and a guy shoved his head into the car.
"Hey, man. What's up? " Axel asked, leaning his hand on the steering wheel.
"You're leaving? " the other guy asked.
"Yeah, I have to. Something came up. " Axel explained. "Will you let Dare know I'm leaving? "
The guy nodded and then his eyes fell on me. "Who is she? "
Axel put two fingers to the guys forehead, pushing him out of the car roughly. He hurriedly dragged his head back when he saw the window sliding up. "Tell Dare what I said. And shut the fuck up. " the window slid shut.
He pulled out of the parking space, turning in the circular path the fountain provided, then drove out, honking when he passed the security man. He waved. They knew each other.
I glanced at him in surprise. I knew a lot of Ivacy High students that would completely disregard that man's existence simply because of his post. I had seen two more sides to Axel tonight. This one and the angry one I'd seen back at the pool house.
Watching Axel drive was sexy and distracting, so I decided to watch the scenery as we passed instead. The time on his car said it was 9:08pm. My lips twisted ruefully. Had I been worried about how I was going to leave the party because I didn't want to stay late? A party I hadn't even experienced in the slightest, again, thanks to Omar.
But I couldn't say I regretted going. Sure, the night hadn't really met up to the expectations I had in my head, but I had gotten to meet my best friend that I hadn't seen in ages. So I guess I won in some way. Could this be fate? I wouldn't say I believed in it, but right now, I was second guessing everything.
What were the odds of Omar attending a party thrown by a guy from my school? We met and grew up at another state, got adopted in that same state, how could both our foster parents be living in Abuja after coming all the way to Lagos to adopt us? It was too much of a coincidence to be totally unrelated. I was starting to get a strange feeling.
I blinked, seeing that we were approaching the entrance of a huge hotel. That hadn't taken long. Or had I been too absorbed in my head and I hadn't been paying attention to my surrounding?
Axel parked the car, turning the engine off and then he faced me. "We need to go in, get a room, then come back out and take him up. "
"Okay. " I fumbled a little with the door before figuring out how to open it. My face flushed hot in embarrassment. I still and would probably never be used to this rich people life and their fancy things. Thankfully, Axel didn't notice.
We walked into the glitzy hotel and straight to the receptionist. She was polite enough, listing the available rooms they had and which was most comfortable. All the blood drained from my face when she asked for an ID to ensure we were up to eighteen. I didn't have my ID with me right now and I definitely wasn't eighteen yet! How had we not thought about this?
I turned to Axel, but he didn't share my worry. He simply grabbed his wallet from his back pocket, flipped it open, fished his ID out and slid it to the lady. She went over it, smiled, and handed it back to him, going over to her computer.
"How old are you? " I whispered to Axel.
"Good thing for the both of us, I turned eighteen two months ago. "
So he was born in July. And wow, I had assumed we were the same age.
The receptionist gave us our bill and before I could find the time to collapse on the floor out of shock, Axel was already paying with his card. The amount we were being charged for a single night was obscene! And what the hell had I expected from a place like this? Couldn't we find a cheaper one?
Axel collected the key from the woman, and back outside we went to get Omar. He whistled low as he strode out leisurely, swinging the key around his finger. Okay, this boy was too sexy. How was I supposed to ignore it? It was impossible.
Twenty minutes later, we were walking back outside. Getting Omar up to the room hadn't been as stressful as I thought it would be. The hotel had an elevator —it was my first time in one, yay!— and Axel did most of the work. All I did was hold the door open for them as they passed. Oh, and tuck Omar in.
The temperature had dropped several degrees as the day darkened and I was starting to get cold. My legs were also starting to hurt. Why was the car suddenly so far from the hotel?
I stopped when I felt light weight on my shoulders. Axel had placed his jacket on me. How had he known I was cold?
He must have seen the question in my eyes because he shrugged. "I could tell. "
"Thank you. " I voiced, before resuming my walk.
His car had heat and he turned it on too. In no time, I was starting to feel warm. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He was so thoughtful.
I gave him directions to the house since he was dropping me off and then going home. He slowed the car as the huge gate came into sight. "Am I stopping here or? "
"It's okay. You can stop here. " I didn't want to stress him further by driving inside, before driving back out and not to mention, he'd need the code. He had done enough already.
"Thank you so much for today. I don't know what I would have done with Omar if you hadn't been there. "
"You don't have to thank me. "
"I know. But still. "
He left the engine revving, waiting for me to get down. I popped off my seatbelt and just when I was about to open the door, he stopped me.
"Are you still mad at me? " he asked quietly.
"No. " I stared at him, incredulous, "Why would you think that? "
"You've barely said a word ever since. "
"Oh. I've just been lost in my thoughts. "
He nodded, watching me quietly as if waiting for me to say something else. When I didn't, he nodded again. I could tell he was apprehensive.
"Goodnight, Eva. "
"Goodnight, Axel. " I replied just as quietly.
I got down from the car and walked over to the gate, typing in the code and waiting for the small gate to roll open. I stopped walking when I got to the main gate to the house, turning to check if he had driven off. He was still there. Immediately I got into the compound, I saw him reversing, about to leave.
He wants you to get in safely.
What was that weird feeling happening in my stomach?
I was already climbing up the stairs, headed for my room when I spotted Abi standing just outside her door. Had she been waiting for me to come home or did she hear me come in?
"You're back. You're lucky dad and mom aren't home yet. " she beamed. "How was the party? "
"Fun, I guess. " I laughed to myself. Fun, indeed.
I turned to my room. I was already pushing the door open when she stopped me. "Eva? Whose jacket is that? "
I looked down. I'd forgotten to give Axel back his jacket!
"No one. " I smiled sweetly at Abi, but I could tell she didn't buy it.
As I took off my gown and got ready for bed, I realized that I was smiling.
And the smile didn't leave my face until my back hit the bed.
Cheesy, I know 💀
I think this is my second longest chapter. I finished it super late so I'm sorry if there are errors.
Also, why do I not have interactive readers?